Fact Check: Jim Acosta’s Phony Claim He Did Not Insult Trump Voters

AP Photo/Susan Walsh26 Apr 2018

Jim Acosta, the anti-Trump activist who serves as White House correspondent for the far-left CNN, is hurling fake news in the hopes of explaining away comments he made this week insulting Trump supporters.

The interview, which also featured Acosta’s CNN colleague and fellow Trump antagonist April Ryan, was really only notable for Acosta’s attacks on the intelligence of everyday Americans. Among other things, he said, “They don’t have all their faculties and in some cases their elevator might not hit all floors.”

In a piece titled, “Jim Acosta says voters too stupid to grasp Trump ‘act’: ‘Their elevator might not hit all floors,’” the Washington Times reported it this way:

Mr. Acosta then lamented what he perceives as a large-scale intellectual void afflicting the population.

“The problem is that people around the country don’t know it’s an act,” the reporter said. “They’re not in on the act, and they take what he says very seriously, and they take attacks from [former White House press secretary] Sean Spicer and Sarah Sanders and what they do to us on a daily basis very seriously. They don’t have all their faculties in some cases — their elevator might not hit all floors. My concern is that a journalist is going to be hurt one of these days.”

In a defensive and dishonest tweet published Wednesday, the embattled Acosta said that his comments have been “twisted” and that “As you can plainly see, I’m not referring to Trump supporters. I am talking about people who threaten journalists.”

He then posts a copy of what he says is a transcript of his remarks:

Regarding my interview with Variety, my comments have been twisted by some outlets. As you can plainly see, I'm not referring to Trump supporters. I am talking about people who threaten journalists. Links to transcript and video below. https://t.co/SpEBiyVyQdpic.twitter.com/KZ7tkllEHQ

But the problem is that people around the country don’t know it’s an act, they’re not in on the act and they take what he [Trump] says very seriously and they take attacks from Sean Spicer and Sarah Sanders, and what they do to us on a daily basis very seriously … they don’t have all their faculties and in some cases their elevator might not his all floors. My concern is that a journalist is going to get hurt[.]

Let’s break down the Acosta quote into logic-sized pieces:

“The problem is that people around the country don’t know it’s an act, they’re not in on the act and they take what he says very seriously…”

Well, that is very clearly an attack on “people around the country,” whom Acosta is claiming are too dumb to “know it’s an act” — meaning “people around the country” are too stupid and unsophisticated to grasp what Acosta is sophisticated enough to grasp. There is no way for Acosta to get around that one.

“…and they take attacks from Sean Spicer and Sarah Sanders, and what they do to us on a daily basis, very seriously”

In this bit above, Acosta’s “they” has clearly not changed. “They” is still “people around the country,” and now “people around the country,” according to Acosta, “take the attacks” from Spicer and Sanders “very seriously.”

“they don’t have all their faculties and in some cases their elevator might not hit all floors.”

Acosta’s “they” has still not changed. The “they” is still very clearly “people around the country” who he is saying “don’t have all their faculties” and who “in some cases their elevator might not hit all floors.”

Then Acosta says…

“My concern is that a journalist is going to get hurt[.]”

The only way to read that is the way Acosta put. He is expressing his concern that one of “they,” one of those unsophisticated “people around the country” who “don’t have all their faculties” might someday hurt a journalist.

According to his own transcript, Acosta’s claim that he is talking about “people who threaten journalists,” is simply not true.

If Acosta wants to claim he misspoke at the end, fine. Even so, there is no getting around the fact that he opens this part of the interview clearly insulting “people around the country” as rubes who can’t see through Trump’s act.

Regardless, Acosta trying to gaslight us with this arrogant nonsense about it being “plain” to “see” that he was not insulting the American people is yet another heaping helping of Jim Acosta’s fake news.